AMD Athlon 64 launch party set for 22 Sept.

A second mis-sent email in as many days

AMD has leaked a second press release schedule just days after emailing the first one to chip market watchers. The second schedule pegs the launch of the Athlon 64 to 22 September.

On that same day, the chip maker will announce the Athlon 64-M mobile processor.

Late last week, a similar press release schedule sent out to eager recipients revealed that AMD will launch its next Opteron processor, the 246, on 4 August. Before that, on 28 July, AMD will announce the Athlon 64 branding, if all goes according to the leaked schedule.

Two questions remain: will AMD stick to the schedule now it's out in the open; and were the leaks accidental or deliberate? The Athlon 64 launch has been pegged to late September for quite a few months now, and we imagine the preparations are at too late a stage to change. In any case, adjusting the dates slightly would make little difference now.

According to CNET, AMD has booked San Francisco's Moscone Center on 30 September. Computex Taipei opens on 22 September, having been put back from June because of the SARS threat. Perhaps AMD will ship Athlon 64 in Taiwan on the 22nd, then throw a big launch party in the US the following week. More likely CNET has the wrong date. We shall see.